Marais Walk

Day 8: Sat 4th Jan
We set out today along Rue de Reaumur wandering down interesting streets past the Centre Pompidou (Modern Art Museum) and into the Marais area where Haussmann's renovation of Paris did not reach.  Consequently the streets are less ordered and there are more medieval buildings.  Our destination was Musee Carnavalet, a free museum that records the history of Paris over the centuries. Started in 1880, it is the oldest museum in and before then collections we

re held in churches and other municipal buildings.

A lot of the historical documents of Paris stored in the Hotel de Ville were destroyed in the Revolution. A lot of  the rooms were closed and the building was a little worse for wear.  However there were a lot of historical paintings of the city , its architecture and daily life, which showed how it looked from the 17th century onwards.  I have included a great painting of a carnival parading through the streets,  
There are numerous works portraying the events around the Revolution (including the storming of the Bastille), the 1830, 1835 uprisings and the Commune uprising in 1870.  Some of the things I found most interesting were:

• business door signs from 17th  Century streets (there were no house numbers until 1815 and streets were named by the largest sign usually for a business)

Le Musée Carnavalet - Etienne Jeaurat, 1757

• the paintings of the main actors in the Revolution

• copies of the declarations in the Revolution

• artefacts of Napoleon I 

• The copies of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) and their context.  These were revolutionary documents that became the  blueprint for all citizenship rights and constitutions since then (although women were neglected even though they played a major role in the Revolution).

We had lunch outside the Church of Saint Paul and Saint Louis (1641) which was commissioned by King Louis XVIII.  This was the base for the Jesuit order who were expelled from France in 1762.  The church was sacked and 5 monks killed during the Revolution (but in September 1792 after the Reign of Terror) when the churches were converted to Temple's of Reason.

Bastille stones

Boulevard Henry IV

We walked towards the Seine purposely visiting Boulevard Henry IV  where our daughter Sarah stayed during her time as an au pair in Paris in 2011.  What a great spot just across from the Ile Saint Loius and looking towards the Place de la Bastille.  Sitting inconspicuously in the corner of the children's park across the road from her building is some of the building stones from the Bastille which were dispersed to the four winds when it was dismantled.  These are the only ones remaining not incorporated into other structures or lost.

Ile Saint Louis is so quaint and we will return there another day but at 230pm I joined up an free English speaking tour of Notre Dame while Maureen meditated.  This was so helpful in understanding the details of the cathedral.  Here is a good link to a you tube video.  
A few points of interest:

• The Gothic cathedral is one of the first built with flying buttresses and an iron band around the perimeter

• The gallery of Kings along the front above the three doors were the Kings of Judah (plus one is Jesus).  These were represented as the Kings of France from the 14th Century and beheaded during the Revolution.  During 1792 Robosphere converted the Cathedral into the Temple of Reason and barracks for soldiers so most of the rest of the building was left

• The left side door depicts the death and assumption of Notre Dame (Our Lady) to heaven.  It highlighted that humanity could reach holiness and be with God in glory and that mary was the best example of this.  Over the arches of the door include a figure of the first archbishop of Paris, St Dennis, who is holding his head (He was beheaded!)

devil urinating on clergy

• Above the central door is depicted the last last judgment and vanquishing of evil by good.  This was a comment against the rampant dualism of the middle ages. In the first lateral frieze are depicted the righeous dead awaiting resurrection.  The scene above this depicts the last judgement with the devil trying to tip the scales.  In the freize around the arch it goes from 'Hell' on the right to Heaven on the left. One depiction of Hell includes a she devil urinating on a Bishop, a Priest and a Monk indicating that religious roles did not suffice for people being saved and entering Heaven    

• The right door tells the story of Mary with the bottom lateral frieze depicting moments from the life of Anne and Joachim (Mary;s parents) and the next one above the story of the birth of Jesus.   

• The rose windows in the left and right transcepts are 13th century with original glass. Each is quite different and the left side (towards right bank) tells the story of the First Testamant while the rhs one tells the story of the Second Testament.

• The wooden freezes around the outside of the Choir (around teh back of the main altar are original 13th and 14th century and tell stories from the life of Jesus.

• The front facade of the church is in 3 sections to represent the Trinity.  The Rose window (circular representing the transcendent God ) sits inside a square representing the world (4 seasons, 4 elements).  All the figures were originally painted but the colour has now faded

• About half way down the right transcept is a stained glass window depicting the family tree of Jesus.  This is the first depiction of family trees although the original glass was replaced in the 19th century 

• The 19th Cent architect who restored the Cathedral ( Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc) has a bronze statue of himself, with the apostles up close to the spire on the roof (left bank side), admiring the Cathedral.

As we were close by the Left Bank we found a cheap restaurant for dinner and learned a lesson.  Do not go for the set menu if you want quality food and 'you get what you pay for'.  We also had a look at the oldest tree in Paris in the Square René Viviani-Montebello just across the Pont au Double near Notre Dame.  The tree is called The Robinere and is a locust tree planted there by Jean Robin in 1602.  He was gardener-in-chief during the reign of kings Henry III, Henry IV, and Louis XIII.   The tree is also known as the "Lucky Tree of Paris" and is supposed to bring years of good luck to those who gently touch its bark.

After dinner we rushed back to Notre Dame and joined the Vigil Mass for Sunday in French celbrating the Feast of the Epiphany.  The twilight shades of the Cathedral showed the wonderful Gothic lines of the building and the beautiful cantor and organ music created a very moving setting.  The Feast of the Epiphany is about recognising the key manifestations of Jesus as God ( The Adoration of the Magi, The Wedding feast at Cana, The Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist).  I take the meaning now as the ability to recognise and celebrate. manifestations of goodness and beauty and creativity 

in each day, however fleeting.  These 'events' abound, even on dark days, if we can recognise them and be encouraged to become someone who creates such moments.